Thanks to our advanced demonic eyesight, we were able to see in the dark fairly well. It also helped that the tunnels contained bioluminescent fungi that produced faint atmospheric light. We walked quickly with purpose as we wanted to make haste along with keeping our body temperatures up. Our breaths came out in white puffy smoke and we made sure to close up our cloaks to preserve our body heat.

Whenever we came to a fork in the road, Aldric would do his best to guide us but we ended up having to walk back and forth between the passages since some of them led to dead ends or sudden cliff edges.

Every now and then we encountered some lesser monsters which were easy enough to kill and if we could, we scavenged their meat for later consumption. Most of the monsters that inhabited the tunnels were mole-like creatures or mutated fauna.

Oda was the first one to crack under the physical exertion as he leaned up against the tunnel wall and then slid down into a sitting position. He heaved as he complained, “I need a break! You both have monstrous amounts of stamina, especially since we just fought that general a bit ago!” He then tucked his arms and legs into the safety and warmth of his cloak which made him look like a sad cold pebble.

Sighing, Aldric and I both sat down near Oda. Pulling out some sticks and the kindling, I started a small fire in the center of our sitting position.

“I hope we get out of these mountain tunnels soon or else I’m going to turn into an icicle!” Oda complained as he shimmied his way closer to the small fire.

“Get any closer and you’ll catch on fire then Aldric and I can use your body as a furnace,” I reply with a smirk hidden behind my hood.

Aldric let out a chuckle at that while Oda was horrified and hastily scooted back away from the flames. While we were huddled next to the fire, I took out the meat we had wrapped up and created a makeshift fire pit to cook the meat on.

When it was ready, we quickly and eagerly scarfed down the delicious smoked meat. With our bellies full and warm, Aldric put out the fire while I packed up what we could use again. We continued our travels for a while until our path turned into a dead end.

“Where are we supposed to go now? There’s no other path and the ones we’ve already tried were all dead ends too!” Oda looked at Aldric in a panic, “I thought you knew these tunnels! What’re we going to do? I don’t want to die here!”

I smacked the back of his head and said, “First, you need to calm down. We need to think rationally about this. There might be a secret exit we can’t see”.

Checking the tunnel walls near the dead end, I couldn’t feel anything was off but I continued to check. Aldric was helping by checking the taller sections and ceilings. Oda was of no help as he was fumbling around while muttering about how he wasn’t going to die in this freezing hell.

A loud cracking sound erupted from somewhere near us and we all froze in our place as we tried to pinpoint where exactly it came from. The noise reverberated around the tunnels which made it hard to figure out where it originated from. Since the cracking sound could signify an opening, we went searching through the pathways we had already gone down.

After searching for about thirty minutes, we found the source of the sound. A large fissure had opened up along the side of the tunnel and we all looked at each other quizzically.

I looked at Oda and pushed him towards it, “You go through it first”.

Oda looked bewildered while struggling against me, “Why me?! I don’t want to do it! Nocturne, you do it! You’re more agile and reflexive than me!”

“Yeah, but you’re expendable,” I deadpanned.

Oda looked hurt and stayed silent for a second. He brushed my hands off him and walked closer to the fissure and examined it. He closed his eyes and muttered something to himself and then slid his way into the crevice.

While Oda was gone, Aldric turned to me and due to his high collar cloak, it was hard for me to read his emotions. “Nocturne, I think you went too far with that. We’re all stuck together here helping you on your secret mission you refuse to tell us about, you could at least treat everyone decently”.

I quickly turned my head away in instant regret and shame. I knew I was hiding many things from them, but I didn’t know if I could trust them with this information just yet. I was raised to be skeptical of everyone. Anyone could end up ratting you out and then that’s the end of the story.

We waited in silence as Aldric refused to speak any further on the matter. The silence was heavy and suffocating like a pile of smothering blankets. One layer was nice, but ten was too many.

Oda was gone for a few minutes and then came back with some news. “This leads to more tunnels but I have a good feeling it’ll lead us to the other side of the Lunaris Mountains!” he said with fake cheer in his voice.

“Look, I’m sorry-” I started to say but Oda cut me off, “We should hurry since we don’t want to turn into mummified half-demons in here!”

Since there wasn’t any better option, we all tightly secured our bags and shimmied our way through the fissure until we got to the other side.

Maybe it was just my head being crazy from hypothermia, but it felt warmer on this side. We made haste as we explored the rest of the underground tunnels. Like before, many of them led to dead ends while others led to dropping cliffs.

After an hour or so of searching, we took another break around a campfire and the silence was suffocating. The entire time we were walking, the comments I had said to Oda were swirling around in my head. Looking back on it, I’ve been too harsh on the guy. And the last comment was absolutely unacceptable. I don’t think a simple, “I’m sorry” would fix what I’ve said so instead I went with divulging some information.

“The reason I’m going to the eastern country is because, at the end of the year, a portal to hell will open up. My dad is waiting for my arrival on the other side,” I quietly stated.

Oda spit out the water he was drinking and asked with a confused voice, “Wait, what?! A portal to hell? Your dad? Whaaa?”

Aldric only raised an eyebrow at my statement and waited for me to continue speaking.

“When I first turned into a demon, my village was destroyed by an attendant of my father’s. At the time, there was a huge power struggle in hell since the Demon Lord was deteriorating and close to dying. My father was one of the many archdemons vying to take over the underworld. Apparently, he wanted the throne so he could create a place where his forsaken daughter could live. Knowing that I would be in constant danger, he sent his most trusted attendant to take care of me.”

“So do you know who your father is by chance?” Aldric asked.

“I only know his name,” I answered.

Oda and Aldric waited in silent anticipation.

“My father is Beleth”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can't wait for the next chapter?
Become my patron for as low as $1 a month to gain exclusive sneak peeks and early access chapters! Chapters will be released early on Tuesdays and Fridays.
www.patreon.com/FaerieWarrior